Within hours of the controversial move it was rumoured that Mr Phillips, who had led the council’s Labour group for 10 years, had lost vital support and was facing a no confidence vote from within the ruling group.

Now an inside Labour source is claiming Mr Phillips had, in fact, wielded the knife last week after discovering there was already widespread unrest concerning his leadership within the group before he acted.

In particular, a letter openly critical of his leadership was circulating which was signed by 35 Labour group members out of a total of 49. Two of those 35 signatories were the sacked cabinet members, it is understood.

Sacked finance chief Mr Rob Stewart is now being hotly tipped to step into the shoes of his former boss when the Labour group meets in Swansea on Monday to elect a new leader.

“When he (Mr Phillips) discovered that two of the signatories on the letter in question were cabinet colleagues he sacked them, which is the leader’s prerogative,” the source claimed.

“But it left a bitter taste in the mouth of some and, of course, events moved very swiftly and we now have a vacancy for the leadership.

“We will be meeting on Monday evening to remedy that situation and it is widely thought that one of the sacked cabinet members, namely Mr Rob Stewart, is very well placed to become the new leader,” the source added.

Mr Phillips was reported to have stepped down from his the role as leader in order to “focus on building Swansea’s regional and national profile.”

In response to the controversial cabinet reshuffle last week he had said: “We really have to start driving forward the commitments upon which we were elected.

“Labour’s manifesto was very clear, if challenging, and everyone has to be fully signed up to their achievements.”

After standing down he told the BBC he would continue to give his “complete support to the new cabinet and the group as we work to continue to deliver on our manifesto commitments for the good of the people of Swansea and the wider region.”

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